Friday 27 February 2009

Politics for me?

Being in Malaysia -or being a Malaysian- politic is a normal topic of conversation. It is not as technical as we would like it to be, hence it is a topic that everyone would love to get involved. As for me, I would love to avoid it at my best way of dodging the harsh reality. I am an optimist so I have a rather positive way of seeing things that sometimes made me blind to the fact of the situation.
One of the book I read last year entitled In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki opened my eyes of the excepting the current condition of life. Although I can't quote the exact page or paragraph from the book, Tanizaki compared the way of the Japanese with the Westernized culture. It is intriguing to know that the Japanese or rather most of the Eastern culture will make the best of the current situation and be content with the surroundings. Whereas the Western cultures train us to improve things by adding more things or in this case, change where you can.

The moral of my thinking here is that although sometimes we wished that things could be better, there are some things that better to be left just as it is. I am scared that my hopes and efforts will evaporate into thin air, just like when someone crushes your dream. I'd rather leave the political sides of Malaysia to those who had it as their forte so I just stick to do what I was supposed to do.
However, I can't stop my wishful thinking because I know that one day when humans wake up from their sleep they will realize that it is already too late to change.

Monday 16 February 2009

February Break

This break is the longest break in 2 years since I have been in Australia. So far, I have done these things:

1. Meet friends and families - I have been going out with a few close friends and will be going out with them again before I fly into Australia again next month. I have met my sisters and brother and hang out with my parents. Drove around my dad's car because I have a really really pampered car.
2. Shopping - KL is a shopping haven. With the current currency exchange and the variety of choice it offers, I stocked up on my fashion-victim-collection from all over the place. I spent so much that I am starting to feel guilty but what the heck, its my turn to enjoy!
3. Eat, Eat, Eat - Oh, I am such not a big fan of Malaysian food due to its high dependency on rice-based meals but this time around, I have made a promise to myself to eat a lot of Malaysian food. Nasi Lemak, Laksa Utara, Nasi Dagang, Ulam Kacang Botol, and so on. Also that I have 'snatched' some of my mom's recipe books to bring back with me.
4. Cooking - I have shown my talent in cooking and guess what - my dad was impressed! Wow, imagine that. Being praised by your dad for such a simplistic cooking. I cooked Lamb Shank Casserole and he loved it. He said it was tasteful. It has enough beefy flavour, beans and veges to dig around in the stew, the lamb was tender and the sensation of eating was sublime...
5. Driving my car - I have the best car in the world.. oh, at least that is what I thought. So spending time with my car was excellent.
6. Going to art galleries and exhibitions - I spent my lunch going to galleries. So far, only Galeri Petronas but in the future will be National Art Gallery at Jalan Tun Razak and Islamic Gallery at the National Mosque. I have made a point to appreciate the existing insfrastructure of KL and I realized that if you do not try to see it with a foreign eyes, you will always take things for granted.
7. Painting - I have been painting even more and I have to go to the art shop to buy more good papers. Most of the paper I have seemed to be a bit thinner but I am suspecting about the ability of the paper to handle more water. So tomorrow I am going shopping for painting stuff.

So far, these are the things I have done. Not bad for 2 weeks of holidays. I have yet to organize a trip out of town but if I do, I will update about it in this blog. So till then, bye bye. I'll be back!

Saturday 7 February 2009

Mazda RX-8

Some people knew that I have this craze for super fast cars. Yes, it doesn't do justice due to my physical appearances but my craze is above everything that is logical. That's right. If I liked them, I will crave/craze them. Just like all cars I have loved before. When I went into high school, I collected small TAMIYA models. I bought them in pieces and had to glue them together using the special liquid cement. Can't remember what was the proper name, but it was some
kind of adhesive that stuck the tiny tiny pieces together.
So after the Jag, I was infatuated with Ferraris. The one that really made me speechless was F50. As for classic Ferraris, I have always loved Testarossa. Then F50 came along and robbed every single ideas I have had for Ferrari. I think that was when I fell in love with design too. I liked sleek designs, just sexy enuff, masculine enuff, and the engine must be powerful.

This topic came up because I think I am falling for another car. I have had a test drive with Mazda RX-8 last week and it growled like the king of the savannah. It meant business in terms of torque and speed. It wanted to eat the other drivers, boasting of the power its carries, and showing off the sexing body language it possessed. Ah, these love of new technology will never leave us satisfied but at least now I have fixated my ideals on this little car of mine. Ah, did I tell you of its good side? It has a seat adjustor so tiny people like me can sit comfortably and drive like a normal person. Sweet baby, a sweet car!


Yes, I drove the Renesis version and was a proud test driver of last week because I drove a new car. LOL. It is freaking expensive in Malaysia, about RM 238k and about AUD 45k in Australia. I think I might have to find one in Australia instead of Malaysia.

So yeah, this post is about my dream car, Mazda RX-8. I do have a Satria GTi at the moment and the fact that my GTi is the love of my life right now, I cant say that I will ever love RX-8 the same way I did. Till then, I'll come again. Bye!

Further readings:

1. Modelling Madness - Jaguar XJ220
2. New Mazda RX-8 from Japan

My hometown, Kuala Lumpur

When I was small, most of the primary school teachers always ask us of our hometown. So some of my friends were telling the class of their own experience and change of cultures happening around them. Even we could tell them apart by their accents. So when it comes to me, I'd say "My hometown is KL." They told me that it was an illegitimate answer. Hometown has to be outside of KL.
My question back then was WHY? Why a hometown must be from outside of KL. Reason they gave me was because KL is a town and everyone just got to have a hometown other than KL. KL is always the place you live in but not the place you belong to. It comes to the question of why the place you live in cannot be the place you belong to? Experience differs from individuals, hence in this case applied to me.
So it didn't happen once. The second time it happened, I devised a plan. Knowing enough of my parents' background I sort of say that both of my parents came from outside of KL and when they met they have decided on KL as their new home. So here I am as an outsider. This time the question was "So which one is your hometown?"
Goddamnit. So now I have to enforce favouritism on my parents. How clever. Well, such a naive me. I chose my dad's hometown to exploit to the class. The advantage was the fact that I did spent more time at my dad's hometown and possessed a really subtle southern accent. I passed as an outsider.
Reality hit me at that moment. Why my dad's instead of my mum's place? Why should I chose one over another? I never liked discrimination but yet I was doing it. I never want to have to choose but I have done it.
A few years later, I became aware of the public holiday on the 1st February as to celebrate the formation of other 3 Federal Territories in Malaysia - KL, Labuan & Putrajaya. I said to myself, if the government acknowledged KL as a state/territory, why can't I claim it to be my hometown?
KL is my hometown! I was born and brought up with its lifestyle. I bore my dad's asthma problem that worsen each day with KL's super polluted air. I am truly a city kid, so what? Paranoia is normal in order to survive each day in KL. Shortcuts, friends, and discounts are the recipe to a sweet life. I learn how to mingle, how to become invisible by becoming 'normal'. I was always the weird one but guess what, I did survive! When rain hits town, books had become my best friend in order to pass the time. When friends turned their backs on me, I had consolation from the internet where I could always replace them with new ones from all over the world. When I can't find the thing I was looking for in the local shop, I had the whole of KL to shop from. When I felt inadequate to dress properly, KL lets you to be who you are. I was oblivious to the world because when I am in my own fantasy. A kinda of fantasy that KL gave you access to the things you wanted. The kinda freedom only you can feel it. So what if everyone elses had their own outside-KL hometown.
Because I am proud to say that my hometown is KL.

To all, I love KL. It is the best place on earth, and no where else like it!